The air ambulance costs �4,000 a day to run

The ambulance is to go on show at hospitals across the county in an attempt to close a �300,000 funding shortfall.

Managers at the Kent Air Ambulance Trust said about 65% of people still did not realise the service is funded entirely by donations.

It costs �4,000 every day - adding up to �1.5m a year - to keep the helicopter in the sky.

But fundraisers have said they are currently �300,000 short of that figure.

Increase awareness

The helicopter, which has been stationed in Marden since it was moved from Rochester Airport three years ago, will be on display at Maidstone Hospital on Wednesday.

It will move to other Kent hospitals with accident and emergency departments, including Canterbury and Ashford, through the autumn.

Jan Benson, chief executive of Kent Air Ambulance Trust, said: "Marden is the centre of the county if you look on a map and that minimises our flight time to any point in Kent.

"But there aren't many people who pass Marden in the normal course of the day - there are just the sheep looking on."

"It's a good opportunity for us to move the helicopter around, increase its awareness and show people the kind of work it's doing, as it moves around the county."